Because of the increasing concerns towards ecology and the environment, the recycling of paper has become an important industry in recent years. Efforts to recycle paper are more and more made, particularly in business offices and centres where huge amounts of paper are disposed of daily. Waste paper is usually thrown in a garbage can along with other wastes, such as styrofoam or plastic cups, soft drink cans or bottles, cigarettes butts, etc. Waste paper must therefore be sorted out of the trash, which sometimes the collection an arduous task.
It is known to collect separately waste paper and non-paper material. French Patent No. 2,582,924 (Salvaire) proposes a waste paper basket that has a housing which is divided into two compartments, each of which has an opening at the top. One compartment is intended to receive waste paper while the other receives other wastes.
German Patent Publication No. 39 27 510 (Miller) discloses an insert which can be mounted to the upper edges of a waste paper basket so that waste other than paper can be disposed of therein.
None of the prior art baskets, however, provide a removable cover for the paper receiving recipient, which also contains, integral therewith, a waste receiving body.
The present invention therefore provides a combined waste paper and trash basket that comprises: a first body defining a container and a second body supported on the container and consisting of first and second integral parts. The first part defines a recipient for non-paper waste which has a volume smaller than that of the container so as to leave, in the container, an area to receive waste paper. The second part of the second body defines a cover that extends over the waste paper receiving area. The cover includes means which allow waste paper to be dropped into the waster paper receiving area.
Objects and scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. It should be understood that this description, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, is given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art.